Looking forward to 2009 with the wisedom of 2008

As I get ready for New Year's Resolutions, part of the process is to reflect on the previous year. I can't help but feel I've "pissed away" that time. I feel as though I am basically starting back at square zero from one year ago. Of course this isn't 100% true, at the very least I have been going through a learning and growing process and I am a smarter person than I was one year ago, with the grain of salt that I am also not as smart as I will be tomorrow!

Goals (Journeys & End Points) for 2009:

(in no particular order)

1) To be a little less materialistic, less of an impluse shopper.

2) To be more organizated, efficient and punctual.

3) To lead a healthier, fuller more positive life.

The details/background/how it comes together

I am a shopoholic, an addiction like many others in that I get a high from it and it's self destructive. I have earned a lot of money over the years and I have a lot of junk & debt to show for it. My husband makes a very good wage and it's ridiculous that I haven't learned from his example of frugality. That being said I think he can sometimes be on the other end of the spectrum!

One of the ways I have started to work with this problem, is to limit myself to only purchasing things that I LOVE. So far I have utilized it with clothes and tried to do it with Christmas shopping. Although I still bought a lot of presents this year, I definitely limited myself from previous years and think I did better at choosing more quality than quantity.

Another way I am purging my materialistic side is to do a purge/cleanse of our home. I'm reading a great book called "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh - he was the expect on "Clean Sweep" a TLC show & he's one of Oprah's Organizing Guru for 2009. I originially came across it because he also wrote a book called "Does this Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat?" which I'd read a review for & purchased not realizing it was a sequel. I decided I wasn't ready for the sequel yet & wanted to start with the original. It's a great read so far & highly recommended as it breaks down why less stuff equals a richer life & how we need to live in the now more & how clutter is an epidemic in line with over eating, over indulging etc.

I (along with Tyler somewhat) am going through our stuff and again keeping what we LOVE and purging those items we don't. So far, my living room looks awesome and I went down 1 1/2 containers of Christmas items (which I also purged from the year before). I also did an initial purge of our bedroom but it needs another deeper one I believe. Right now I am working on my office which includes my BeautiControl inventory, scrapbooking stuff, paperwork and other filing. This is one of the bigger projects and one that mostly needs to be done by me. I'd said I am about half way done that one and looking forward to completing it.

One of the ways to have a succesful purge is to agree not to buy anything more for your home until you complete the purge and see what you truly need. A common mistake of cleaning up & organizing is to go and buy a ton of organizing items (like containers etc). This can create just as much clutter as the clutter itself!

Quick Clothes Tip I Got Off Oprah - Do a quick purge of your clothes getting rid of the easy stuff. You probably still have a lot left so when you put it back together in your closet, hang everything with the hanger opening facing you. Then whenever you wear an item, put the hanger back in normally. After a set timeframe (maybe 6 weeks or 6 months) assess the items that have hangers still open to you...this means you haven't worn that item for that long! It might make it easier for you to get rid of it at this point. Of course some items are seasonal but you don't need 5 basic black dresses, just 1 or 2.

My supper is ready so I'm just going to write very quickly, one or two more things (though I have tons more to say!). To me a healthier, fuller more positive life means finding activities that I enjoy that are more active. I got Wii Fit for Christmas which has some fun stuff, as well as I hope to start swimming with Catharina again once she's back from Mexico (26th) - may sneak in a few swims with Tyler before then! I don't want to fall into the typical diet/exercise ruts I've gotten into before so that's not what it's all about. It's about doing things that make me happier and give me the life I want to live.

I'm also going to take Xocai for a month trial to see if it makes a difference in how I feel. Xocai is a chocolate based product that has many ingredients that are high in anti-oxidants including Acai berrie, blueberry, cocoa...the version I am getting is also high in Omega 3 from flaxseed. The chocolate is simliar in concept to other products including Xango and Monovie (spelling?). I'm sure there is tons out there. I have tasted Xango & didn't enjoy it and I like the portablity of the chocolates (as well as the taste!). I'm excited but plan to keep an open mind as to whether it really makes a difference as it is not cheap!

I also want to learn and practise meditation and define my spirituality a little more. That deserves it's on blog so hopefully I'll get around to that soon.

I am doing some research online about the superfoods that are out there and looking for some recipes that incorporate more of them. So far one of the lists I found was:

• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon
• Soy
• Spinach
• Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Walnuts
• Yogurt

So if you have some recipes that include these ingredients please share. In fact, if you have any recipes that you'd like to share that aren't "sugar/dessert" related, I'd love to hear them.

Recipe from Greece:

-Take a small container such as a tumbler cup.

-Sprinkle in a layer of walnuts.

-Drizzle honey onto nuts, to taste.

-Scoop french vanilla, vanilla, or plain yogurt over nut/honey mixture.

Enjoy with a spoon and ensure each spoonful contains all three layers.

I also want to learn and practise meditation.